Driver intros 'different things for different markets' - Horner

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has defended the razzamataz approach to driver introductions rolled out last weekend in the build up to the start of the Miami Grand Prix.

Liberty Media had previously experimented with hyping up the pre-race build-up at the 2017 United States GP, and did so again this month in Miami - but not without sparking complaints and controversy in the paddock.

Drivers did individual one-by-one walks-ons to the stage where they were introduced by rapper and actor LL Cool J, with will.i.am marshalling a full orchestra to play his new song 'The Formula'.

• Read also: F1 drivers bash 'distracting' pre-race ceremony in Miami

All 20 drivers are required to take part, but Mercedes driver George Russell called it an unwelcome distraction from the event - while his team mate Lewis Hamilton evidently enjoyed himself mixing with the stars.

Red Bull boss Horner was among those supporting the initiative as making it more appealing for fans at the circuit - although he acknowledged that it wouldn't be appropriate for every race.

“If it’s good for the business it’s fine," Horner said when asked if he was in favour of the showbiz proceedings. "For me it’s all about the two hours from when the lights go out.

“You can see the drivers perhaps looking a little awkward, some of them. But if it’s embracing a new audience, then that’s down to the promoter.

“We’re obviously in a different marketplace,” Horner continued, suggesting that we might see the same sort of style to pre-race ceremonies at the two remaining races located in the US this year in Austin, Texas and Las Vegas.

"There’s a lot of experimenting going on,” Horner explained. “This is a new market. US sport is different. You’re not going to see drivers running on through dried ice at Silverstone.

“It’s different things for different markets," he added. "You can understand Liberty and the promoters exploring different things because they’re competing with other sports.

"It’s finding that balance that’s right and appropriate," he concluded.

Other sports held in the US - from NFL to NASCAR and IndyCar - have similar glitzy pre-event ceremonies, leaving F1's traditional approach looking a little staid and boring by comparisons to modern American eyes.

But it's an approach that still has to win over hearts and minds in F1, with Sergio Perez on the dubious side saying that is has to take into account a driver's own mental preparations for the race.

His teammate Max Verstappen said that he had found enough time to prepare, but admitted that it wasn't his sort of thing.

"To be honest, I did have enough preparation before, to speak to my engineers and stuff for the race," he told the media on the day.

"But personally I think this is just a bit of a personality thing," he continued. "Some people like to be more in the spotlight, some people don't. I personally don't.

"So for me I think that, naturally, what they did today is not necessary. I prefer to just talk to my engineers, walk to my car, put the helmet on and drive.

"But of course, I understand the entertainment value. So I just hope we don't have that every single time, because we have a very long season and we don't need an entry like that every time.

"I think it also depends a bit on the crowd, in terms of what you want in terms of entertainment," he pointed out. "So yeah, I think it's just a personal preference as well from the drivers. For me, personally not."

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